Balance



July 11, 1961 w ECKER 2,992,047

BALANCE Original Filed March 14, 1955 INVENTOR. HOWARD W. ECKER ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,992,047 BALANCE Howard-W. Ecker, 702 W. Wheclock Parkway, St. Paul 13, Minn.

Original application Mar. 14, 1955, Ser. No. 493,966. Divided and this application Nov. 1, 1957, Ser. No. 693,854

4 Claims. (Cl. 3082) The herein disclosedinvention relates to pivot means particularly useful in balances to take the place of the usual knife edge fulcrum. and V-shaped socket cooperating therewith- An object of. the invention resides in providing pivot means utilizing crossed flexible elongated pivot members together with mounting members therefor having flanges arranged at right angles to one another and disposed with their vertexes lying in juxtaposition.

Another object of the invention resides in providing an offset on one of the flanges of one of said members and another oflset on the oppositely disposed flange of the other member, said offsets extending angularly from said flanges and lying in a substantially parallel plane when the pivot means is in normal position.

Other objects of the invention reside in the novel combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter illustrated and/or described.

This application for patent is a division of my copending application for patent for Electromagnetic Balance, Serial Number 493,966 filed March 14, 1955.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pivot means illustrating an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the structure shown in FIG. 1.

The pivot means constituting the instant invention is indicated in its entirety by the reference numeral 33. This pivot means comprises two angle shaped mounting members 34 and 35. These members each have a flange 36 and a flange 37 and the vertexes of said flanges are arranged in close proximity to one another as shown in FIG. 2. The ends of the flanges 36 and 37 are cut away to form notches designated at 38 in FIG. 1 to leave lugs 39 on said flanges projecting outwardly therefrom. With the parts properly arranged, the flange 36 of the mounting member 34 lies substantially in the plane of the flange 37 of the mounting member 35 and the flange 37 of the first mounting member 34 lies in the plane of the flange 36 of the mounting member 35. Extending across the corresponding lugs 39 of the respective mounting members are wire pieces 41 and 42 which are soldered to said lugs. These wire pieces cross each other as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and form pivot members acting between said mounting members. To limit the extent of the bending of the wire pieces 41, clips 43 are provided, which are formed at the inner edges of the lugs 39. The flange 36 of the mounting member 34 has an offset portion 44 while the flange 37 of the member 35 has an offset portion 45. These oflset portions lie in substantially parallel planes when the pivot means is in normal position and form angles of substantially 45 degrees with the flanges from which they issue.

The two offsets 44 and 45 may be attached to two substantially coplanar parts of the pivoted structure indicated by the reference numerals 26 and 40 in FIG. 2. This may be accomplished by means of rivets 46 and 47 which pass through holes 48 in the offsets 44 and 45 and through registering holes 49 in the parts 26 and 40, or by means of bolts, screws or other equivalent attaching means.

The pivot means is particularly adapted for use in bal- 2,992,047 Patented July 11, 1961 ice The advantages of the invention are manifest. The

- pivot means is extremely light in weight and does not of itself add any appreciable weight to the structure with which it is to be used. The device is sturdy in construction and will function indefinitely without attention. The hinge means can be easily constructed and at a nominal expense.

Changes in the specific form of the invention, as herein described, may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the inven tion.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is:

'1. Pivot means comprising a first angle shaped mounting member having a first flange and a second flange extending substantially :at right angles to said first flange, a second angle shaped mounting member having a first flange and a second flange extending substantially at right angles to the first flange thereof, said mounting members being arranged with the vertexes thereof in close proximity with one another and when in normal position with the first flanges of said mounting members- -lying substantially in a first common plane, and with the second flanges of said mounting members lying substantially in a second common plane intersecting said first plane, elongated flexible pivot members secured to the ends of said first flanges, other elongated flexible pivot members secured to the ends of said second flanges, the first named pivot members crossing substantially at the intersection of said planes and the second named flexible pivot members likewise crossing substantially at the intersection of said planes, and offsets formed on the first flanges of both of said mounting members and extending angularly outwardly therefrom, said offsets when the mounting members are in normal position lying substantially in a common plane intersecting said first and second planes substantially at the line of intersection thereof.

2. Pivot means comprising a first angle shaped mounting member having a first flange and a second flange extending substantially at right angles to said first flange, a second angle shaped mounting member having a first flange and a second flange extending substantially at right angles to the first flange thereof, said mounting members being arranged with the vertexes thereof in close proximity with one another and when in normal position with the first flanges of said mounting members lying substantially in a firs-t common plane, and with the second flanges of said mounting members lying substantially in a second common plane intersecting said first plane, elongated flexible pivot members secured to the ends of said first flanges, other elongated flexible pivot members secured to the ends of said second flanges, the first named pivot members crossing substantially at the intersection of said planes and the second named flexible pivot members likewise crossing substantially at the intersection of said planes, and offsets formed on the first flanges of both of said mounting members and extending angularly outwardly therefrom, said offsets when the mounting members are in normal position lying substantially in a common plane forming an angle of substantially forty-five degrees with said first and second planes and intersecting said first and second planes substantially at the line of intersection thereof.

3. Pivot means comprising two elongated angle shaped mounting members having flanges, said members being arranged with the vertexes of said flanges in close proximity and when said members are in normal position with one of the flanges of one member lying substantially in coplanar relation with one of the flanges of the other member and with the other flange of, the first member lying in substantially coplanar relation with the other flange of the second member, said flanges having notches in the ends thereof at the vicinity of the vertexes of said mounting members to form outwardly extending spaced lugs, elongated flexible pivot members secured to the lugs of said first named flanges and other elongated flexible pivot members secured to the lugs of the second named flanges, said elongated flexible pivot members extending across said notches and crossing substantially at the alpexes of said mounting members.

4. Pivot means comprising two elongated angle shaped mounting members having flanges, said members being arranged with the vertexes of said flanges in close proximity and when said members are in normal position with one of the flanges of one member lying substantially in coplanar relation with one of the flanges of the other member and with the other flange of the first member lying in substantially coplanar relation with the other flange of the second member, said flanges having notches in the ends thereof at the vicinity of the vertexes of said mounting members to form outwardly extending spaced lugs, elongated flexible pivot members secured to the lugs of said first named flanges and other elongated flexible pivot members secured to the lugs of the second named flanges, said elongated flexible pivot members extending across said notches and crossing substantially at the apexes of said mounting members, and clips integral with said lugs and extending about said pivot members and clamping them to said lugs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 392,617' Lieb et a1 Nov. 13, 1888 2,381,268 Eastman Aug. 7, 1945 2,611,659 Hadley Sept. 23, 1952 2,793,028 Wheeler May 21, 1957 2,849,260 Rikken Aug. 26, 1958 

